Case Number 23115

NEW TRICKS: SEASON SIX

The Charge

"God, look at them. What a crew!" -- Esther Lane, talking about
husband Brian and his colleagues at UCOS

Opening Statement

New Tricks, at first glance, seems like your typical police
procedural, something that you could find anywhere on the dial, at almost any
hour. At second glance, it's still a procedural, but I found myself liking the
cast: James Bolam, Alun Armstrong, Dennis Waterman, and Amanda Redman. There's
also a humorous streak that you just don't find in Law and Order.

Facts of the Case

New Tricks: Season Six features eight episodes on three discs:

Disc One * "The War Against Drugs" -- At the
insistence of his wife Esther (Susan Jameson, Circles of Deceit), Brian
Lane (Alun Armstrong, The Mummy) heads for a monastery to dry out after
falling off the wagon. Naturally, he finds a suspicious death. To keep Brian off
the case, Sandra (Amanda Redman, Demob) sends Gerry (Dennis Waterman,
Minder) in for sex addiction therapy.

* "Death of a Timeshare Salesman" -- Reinvestigating the
aforementioned murder also reopens a bank job, sending UCOS on a search for gold
bars.

* "The Truth is Out There" -- Jack Halford (James Bolam, The
Beiderbecke Affair) is the executor of a former colleague's will, and the
colleague's ex-wife plans to contest. To help him out, UCOS investigates the
death of a journalist and a possible UFO sighting. Glynis Barber and Michael
Brandon (both of Dempsey and Makepeace) guest.

Disc Two * "Shadow Show" -- UCOS heads to Pinewood
Studios to investigate a death and a disappearance that played a part in
shutting down a neo-noir movie production. Meanwhile, Emily (Hannah Waterman,
EastEnders) recruits Jack and Brian for regular duty, with mixed results.
Imogen Stubbs (Anna Lee) guests.

* "The Last Laugh" -- Hecklers at a comedy club lead UCOS to
disappearances that involved skinheads -- and the man (David Troughton, The
Norman Conquests) who killed Jack's wife. Gerry -- not Jack -- is the one
who gets reckless here, though. Joe Absolom (Doc Martin) also guests.

* "Fresh Starts" -- A doctor believes he saw the wife he was told
died in a car crash years ago. Meanwhile, Brian has DIY intentions, but his wife
wants to hire out the job.

Disc Three * "Blood is Thicker than Water" --
Naturally, there's a row when Strickland (Anthony Calf, Upstairs,
Downstairs) invites the UCOS team to his yacht club to check out his new
boat. It leads the team to reopen the investigation of a boat collision.

* "Meat is Murder" -- When a butcher's cut-up body is found, it
means he's no longer the prime suspect in another murder. It turns out Gerry has
family ties in the meat business, which makes Sandra uncomfortable -- until she
learns about her own link to the case.

The Evidence

New Tricks tends to end seasons on shockers. Past finales involved
Jack coming to terms with his wife's death and Sandra reforming bonds with her
estranged mother, making the emotions relatable, even if they were ramped up
beyond ordinary probability. This time, however, the twist seems extremely
unlikely, even in the world of television dramedy detective shows.

The balance of New Tricks: Season Six continues its shift toward
emphasizing the characters, rather than the plots, although there are meaty
stories involving Yugoslavian war crimes, immigration, the war on terror, and
spousal abuse. The shift has bad points and good points. In six of the eight
stories, the UCOS team just happens to be on hand when something happens to
reopen an old case. Given that the stories are grittier than you'd find on
Murder, She Wrote, making the UCOS team the folks that you'd never invite
to a dinner party is an overdone gimmick. On the other hand, watching the team
-- and eventually, Brian's angry wife -- rally around him during his alcoholism
treatment in "The War Against Drugs" gets the season off to perhaps
the best start I've seen. It's also very satisfying to see the death of Mary
Halford finally put to rest (I hope).

Alun Armstrong's oddball Brian Lane gets most of the comic business --
everything from taking up the yo-yo to handling a hostage negotiation, even
though he failed the course -- but Dennis Waterman gets a couple of the best
bits in this season, dealing with the familiar situation of a girlfriend who's a
suspect and running into his relations while working a case. It's also a good
deal of fun watching the veteran cops banter about old-time Saturday matinees
and other memories.

There's one extra: a look at the sounds of New Tricks, featuring an
look at the foley artists, who use quite a few old tricks to produce the many
layers of sound (and foleying some of Brian Lane's business looks like one of
Garrison Keillor's sound effects challenges), and an interview with composer
Brian Bennett, who has worked with John Barry and Cliff Richard. It's
interesting, if you're into the craft of making television and movies.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

If you like the leads, you'll like New Tricks; if not, you probably
won't. This is one you might want to check out on TV or from the library before
you buy. Or maybe not. I noticed the DVD box uses the more American style of
Season Six rather than the Series Six you'd find on other British shows; that
could be a hint that this has a broader appeal than many imports.

Closing Statement

New Tricks is good, even if it relies a lot on the same old TV tricks,
as you might have guessed from some of those episode descriptions. You'll have
to decide whether that's a plus or a minus for purchase. However, the
comfortable cast makes it a great Netflix or library choice for powerwatching
during downtime, and some of you might find it on public television.